The week after Andrew's birthday stretched like a bruise.
Her phone stayed silent. The boy who used to light up her evenings with late-night jokes and sneakers-on-a-bench photos had vanished. Calls went unanswered. Messages hung unread.
Then came the whispers.
Andrew Lorenzo had quit the varsity team. Walked out mid-practice and never came back. Some said he was burned out. Others claimed he was out every night, drinking in BGC at XYLO, slipping into speakeasies in Poblacion, spotted at Rockwell's high-rise condos that pulsed with bass until dawn. Always, there were women. Women at Revel, women at Bank Bar, women photographed on i********: stories that vanished too quickly.
Carrie tried not to listen. But the ache in her chest told her it was true.
That Friday, Gracie insisted on host
